Silent Howls
by ToffeePrince
Summary: Remus Lupin does not speak much. If he says more than one word in a day he's being talkative. How is it then, that anything he does say seems to offend Sirius Black?... A shameless soppy romance that features my current OTP which is the wonderfully named Wolfstar. A wee bit of angst here and there but nothing major. **INCOMPLETE**
1. Prologue: The Bite

So here we are. The beginning of my first large-scale fiction and also my first Wolfstar. Needless to say, there will be slash and if you don't like that then you can bugger off without a word if you please. And off we go, Fingers crossed my precious.

Disclaimer: I own these characters about as much as I own a desire to exercise regularly... which is to say not at all. However the story is mine and I may sneak in a shifty OC now and then. Who knows?

Notes: Just a teensy intro as to the event of Remus' start as a lycanthrope. To be swiftly followed by a chapter one which will be a little more meaty. I will also be joined in chapter one by two handy assistants who have been forced into helping me introduce and close each chapter.

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Lyall Lupin was woken from his restless sleep by a loud scream coming from the room next to him. Remus' room. He leaped out of bed, thinking that his son was having one of his nightmares and jogged towards the smallest bedroom to wake Remus up.

When he pushed the door open, his grey eyes widened with horror, there on the bed, hunched over the frame of a small child, was the largest werewolf he'd ever seen. It turned to him, blood covering its muzzle and snarled. For a moment Lyall did nothing, just stared at the glistening red droplets that should have been inside his son's body, not on this monster's fur.

Then rage began to take hold. How dare this disgusting aberration stalk in from whatever pit it came from to kill his son? He whipped his wand out and screamed "_DEFODIO!"_

A large chunk of flesh tore itself from the werewolf's chest as the gouging spell made contact, it howled in agony but Lyall wasn't done.

"_DEPRIMO!"_ An intense blast of wind caught the creature full on and blew it backwards out the window through which it'd come. "_CONFRINGO!"_It burst into flames in the garden outside.

"_Cave inimicum."_Lyall whispered this last, setting an invisible barrier around his house as the wolf dashed away in search of water to put itself out.

Lyall turned to his son and collapsed heavily. The small boy's frames was convulsing and shaking as blood and spittle foamed from his mouth. There were several jagged rents, torn by claws, along his side and blood pumped from them at an alarming rate. But what really drew Lyall's attention and horror was the row of tooth-marks on Remus' tiny neck. He was infected.

There was a horrible second where the dust in the room stopped swirling and the life pouring from Remus went from a river to a glacier, in which Lyall didn't know whether he wanted his son to live. Wouldn't it be better for everyone if Remus just died? Could he condemn a child to life of misery?

Lyall shook himself as he realised that no matter what, he wanted his son to survive this dreadful scarlet night. He ran to the fire place, sobbing, and threw a handful of floo power into the grate. He stuck his head in and shouted "St Mungo's!" and experienced the whirling sensation of travelling via fire.

"How can I help?" asked a painfully calm and sterile voice.

"My son has been attacked by a…" Lyall hesitated for just an instant, "By a werewolf. Please help me!" He pleaded.

"Right away." Said the voice, which he saw belonged to a witch in white robes. "Healer Bones! We need the werewolf attack team to the Lupin residence immediately please!"

Even as the Healer shouted, Lyall heard a '_whomph!'_from behind him and pulled his head back to his own house to see healers apparating and running for Remus' bedroom. He watched as they brought Remus into the living room and began weaving enchantments around him in circle. The waves of light washed over and through Remus. His pale form began to calm and still. His chest stopped rising and the blood stopped flowing from him.

They were too late. He'd died. His son was dead. Lyall screamed and ran towards Remus. One of the Healers stepped out from the circle and blocked Lyall's way.

"Your son is alive Mr Lupin." The woman said. "We're putting him in stasis so that his condition doesn't worsen while we transfer him to St. Mungo's and brew the necessary potions, some of which are quite rare and aren't used often."

"You've killed him." Lyall rasped. He hadn't been listening to a word of what had been said. He could just stare at his son, who did indeed look dead.

"You're in shock Mr Lupin." The healer stated. "I'm afraid I'll have to sedate you."

Lyall Lupin didn't get chance to utter another word as drowsiness fell about him like a blanket. Rather than comfort him, it felt like he was being locked away with his pain in a cramped space. He whimpered as he passed out onto the floor. 

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Well there you have it. Hope you liked it and keep reading. If you can spare the time (and if you're reading fanfiction, let's be honest, you probably can) pretty please review even if it's to tell me you hate it (though why you hate it would be nice).


	2. Chapter 1: Journey to Hogwarts

If you're reading this you've made it to the first chapter, well done. Not much to say other than this is a bit of a starting up chapter, to establish characters and the themes of what will happen. Hope you enjoy :)

Disclaimer: Shockingly, still not mine. Though I'm training to be a ninja so I can steal them without being caught. 

* * *

Remus sat staring at the piece of parchment in front of him. His impassive face was as cold as marble ran through with lines of silver that were the only things left from his previous night's torture. Though you wouldn't guess it, Remus was the happiest and most excited he'd been for years.

This letter meant he was normal. This meant he could go to Hogwarts.

He rushed downstairs, a blur faster than any normal eleven year boy could move. He came to an abrupt halt that should have been impossible in front of the kitchen door and knocked lightly. He pushed the door open and looked round into the small white room where his mum and dad were cooking a large meal, he was always hungry during the full moon.

"Mum, Dad." Was all he said as he held up his letter to them, face still an unreadable mask. But his parents could see his jubilation in his slightly shaking hands and the way he didn't seem to be able to rest his weight on each foot for too long. They saw the sparkle in his honey coloured eyes that had once been grey.

"Well done Remus!" His mother cried, dropping the spoon she was holding and running across the room to throw her arms around her son. "I'm so proud of you! But we knew you'd get in, didn't we?" She turned to Lyall, hand on hip and expression warning.

"Of course we did Remus." His dad said from across the room as he thoughtfully placed a pan on the kitchen counter, though his expression implied that he had had his doubts.

"Well we'll have to go to Diagon Alley to get your things." Mused Remus' mother "How about this Saturday? We were going to go and see the neighbour's new baby but I think that can wait."

Remus felt relieved, he hadn't wanted to go and see the baby really though he would have gone out of politeness. He wanted to jump up and down and climb a tree and scream for joy, but he just couldn't let go. Couldn't go too wild for fear of waking the wolf up.

Anytime he used his extra strength or speed he felt sick from the reminder that he wasn't human. So he buried it. He could have been one of the top athletes at any school, but instead he chose to read and write. He took walks and thought about things. He learned and pondered and tested. He did everything a human could do that a wolf could not and it made him feel closer to being normal.

For a while, with his nose buried deep in a story, he could forget he was a monster who had be caged in burning silver each full moon. He wrote as well, slipping into the human thoughts and adventures of his characters and whilst he did, he was someone else.

Remus felt a moment of panic as he reread his letter. It had to be a mistake. Surely they wouldn't let anyone like him near other children? Why would they endanger everyone else like that? And what if it was meant for him? Mightn't he hurt someone? What is people found out? They'd riddle him with silver and set him on fire.

_Pull yourself together. _He thought savagely at himself as he treaded quietly back to his neatly kept room. _You can't change what you are so stop it with the pathetic feeling sorry for yourself._

He huffed out a breath as he landed on his stomach on his bed. He resigned himself to the reaction of the others at school, but he'd just deal with it. He wouldn't let them know, he'd keep it his closest secret, even if it meant pushing people away. And if they did find out… well he'd deal with that when it came to it.

Remus ran a long fingered hand through his light brown hair as his other hand reached for an open copy of '_Magical drafts and potions' _by Arsenius Jigger. He stopped reading after just a few words, realising that he would actually be able to study the subjects he'd been reading about, he would be indistinguishable from all the other normal children around him and he would learn to be a wizard, to lead a normal life.

The corners of Remus' mouth flickered upwards, and he continued reading.

Remus hid behind his father as they stepped into the street full of loud, busy people. They shouted to each other, at their children, at their pets and at their possessions in the case of a little witch whose books kept on trying to creep out of her bag and bite passing shoppers.

It was more noise than Remus had ever heard in his life. His father was a quiet person and his mother worked a lot and he hadn't seen so many people in one place for years. He frowned a little in concern as he thought how easy it would be to get lost somewhere like this.

They first made their way to Olivander's, which was the shop Remus was most looking forward to visiting. His parents went ahead of him and as he was about to follow them into the shop he was knocked aside by two boys coming out clutching wands of their own.

"Come on Sirius! Stop pretending yours is better. It looks like someone just picked it up off the floor and called it magical." Said a boy with messy black hair and glasses. He was grinning at the second boy.

"Shut up James! Yours looks like a girl's wand, all long and swishy. I bet it breaks as soon you try to cast a spell." The second boy, Sirius, had shaggy black hair that fell into his eyes. Remus stared at his almost rough face and thought that he'd never seen someone so beautiful in his life.

"Can you move please?" said the boy irritably. Remus realised that the demand was directed at him and stepped aside a little too quickly, tripping and falling. The boys laughed and walked away.

Remus picked himself up and walked into the shop, no longer excited but embarrassed and upset, though his impassive features gave nothing of this away.

"Young mister Lupin." Said a quiet voice that nevertheless seemed to fill the entire shop. "I have been waiting so long for your visit." A man who looked slightly faded stepped out from behind a stack of boxes. As he stepped towards Remus, the dust in the air seemed to part just because he willed it, flowing and dancing in a shaft of grey sunlight filtering through a grimy window.

"Hello." Remus said. He never knew what to say in normal circumstances, but this unsettling man made it several times worse.

"Good morning to you." Said the man, getting out a tape measure and commanding it to begin taking Remus' height, arm span and a variety of other things. Remus felt like there should have been more of an introduction but didn't care if it meant he could get out of this shop quicker.

"So you have come for a wand." The man stated. "And you have come to exactly the right place my dear boy. I am Mr Olivander, the most recent in a long line of wandmakers that stretches back hundreds of years."

The tape measure finished what it was doing and wound its way lazily to Mr Olivander's ear and whispered to him. At this Mr Olivander rubbed his hands and smiled almost hungrily. "A difficult one is it? Well I think we'll find the right one, if not for a while. "This last was said with relish as if he couldn't imagine anything more pleasant than spending hours finding the perfect wand.  
"Start with this." He thrust a long wand into Remus' hands and before had much of a chance to feel it properly, the wand was gone and being replaced by another

He spent ten minutes going through hundreds of boxes, which made Mr Olivander extremely happy. He flitted around his shop, deftly collecting and replaces wands and boxes at a speed Remus could barely follow.

Finally the strange pale man put a wand into Remus' fingers that felt warm. It felt right. Just as hands were about to snatch it back from him Remus pulled away.

"Oh that one is it?" Mr Olivander chuckled, "Not what I expected but give it a wave and we'll see."

Remus brought the wand around himself in a confident line and little glowing, silver bubbles that popped into clouds followed the path his hand took. He was grinning like a fool as he raised the wand to his eyes.

"Very good! Splendid!" Mr Olivander exclaimed. "What you have there is Cypress and unicorn tail hair, a protective one that one. 10 ½ inches and nice and pliable. Good for defence and protection. Particularly for fighting demons both external and internal. "He scrutinised Remus "I hope you'll remember that."

Remus said he would, bringing his smile back under control. He paid Olivander the 5 galleons he owed and allowed himself to be hugged by both of his parents. He then asked whether they could go to Flourish and Blott's and so surprised were they that their monosyllabic son would say anything, they agreed and promised him two non-syllabus books for free, though he planned to buy more with his pocket money.

Remus went by himself to Madame Malkin's to look for cheap robes. His mother had needed to make an urgent floo call about work and his father had gone into Nocturne Alley to buy some replacement chains for his cage. He grown bigger over the past few months and his transformations were now causing the silver-alloy chains to bite too deeply into his wrists and legs.

The bell tinkled as he pushed the door open and went inside. There were several assistants walking about, looking busy. An old woman hobbled up to him and smiled at his toothily.

"Hogwarts dear?" She asked kindly. Remus nodded. "Come this way to get fitted then young man." Remus shook his head slightly and looked at his feet, tinging pink.

"Will you be wanting second hand ones then?" She said, patting his arm and causing him to jump. Remus nodded, still looking at his feet. "Right you are. Janice! Come here girl and take this young gentleman into the back."

A young girl seemed to appear at the Old woman's side in an instant. "Yes Madame. Come this way dear." Remus didn't feel like a 'dear'. Not when this girl couldn't be that much older than him. She was fifteen at the most. Nevertheless he trailed behind her through a veil of fur coats into a slightly cramped room stuffed with robes on every surface, including dangling from the ceiling.

"Just look around for something that fits and call me when you're ready to pay." Said Janice as she vanished in between two pairs of brightly coloured dress robes.

Remus began pawing through the various heaps and rails of robes, sneezing when puffs of dust rose from a particularly nasty looking mink scarf. He backed away slightly from it and bumped into someone.

He spun around, apology on his lips when he saw that the person he knocked was the shaggy haired boy from the wand shop. Remus locked his jaw shut, wanting to glare but not willing to draw attention to himself.

"Sorry." Said the boy, Sirius, Remus remembered. "Didn't see you there." He grinned and Remus stiffened. It was a canine grin, full of teeth. He half expected to see a tongue lolling out the side of this smile.

Remus muttered incoherently and moved away a little and began violently shuffling through robes at a lightening pace, wanting to find what he needed and go. Now.

"Hogwarts?" The grinning boy asked, moving along the rail to stand next to Remus, who just muttered something that sounded like "mphmrnmbl" and moved away again. This boy didn't recognise Remus from Olivander's, he realised.

"Me too." The boy said, taking Remus' mutters to mean yes. "I should really be out there with my friend James, but new robes would just make my parents too happy."

Remus felt a hot blush of shame. This boy was only in here to annoy his parents. He could afford better robes. Remus could not. He scowled at a very old scarf that mumbled "What did I do?" Sleepily.

"What house do you want to be in? I want to be in Gryffindor. My whole family is in Slytherin but I just don't think it suits me." He chuckled. "I can imagine my mother's face when she finds out."

Remus thought this boy could probably have a conversation in an empty room. He seemed to need no encouragement from Remus. Remus found it almost comforting. There was no pressure on him to make a reply, he could just listen.

"So are you here with your parents? I'm not here with mine." The boy pushed a few hairs away from his eyes as he laughed a warm chuckle. "They said that I could behave like a properly brought up Black, or go by myself. And obviously I wasn't going to pretend to be some stuck up pure blood was I?"

Remus didn't answer but the boy didn't seem to notice. "I think I'll change my name when I get old enough that should annoy mother. Something muggle would probably be best."

"You seem to really care what she thinks." Remus hadn't meant to say it. Wished he hadn't said it. Wished that even more when he saw the boy's thunderous expression.

"What?" The boy asked quietly.

"I-" Remus said, backing away slightly. This boy posed no threat to him, werewolf strength and reflexes could easily doge the fastest punch and give a faster one back. But Remus would die before using the monster inside him.

"You know _nothing _about it." The boy hissed. "Absolutely _nothing_." He took one step into Remus' personal space. "You'd better hope we don't meet at Hogwarts." He stormed out, leaving a ringing silence behind him.

Remus had already made a school enemy. Two if you counted the boy's friend. He felt like crying to told himself to stop being pathetic.

He looked around for about ten minutes until he found a set of robes that would fit him. He walked out and paid for them without a word.

Remus plopped down on his bed with a pile of packets after he and his parents had returned from getting his things. He was now the proud owner of all of the set book, five books that were not standard reading (including a copy of '_Hogwarts: A History_'),his wonderful wand, all of his equipment and some comfortable second hand robes where you could barely see the patch-up job.

He began to open his books one by one, reverently placing them on his shelf next to the rest of his small collection. He mostly got books from the library, since his parents weren't incredibly wealthy and he could always go back to get them again if he wanted.

But the books he did own were his most prized possessions. He loved them like a parent loves a child and lavished care onto them so that they would never fade, never break from age. He'd asked his parents to learn anti-ageing charms just to protect his precious books.

Remus sighed as he sat down on the bed. It had been a tiring day and he just wanted to sleep. But he couldn't stop thinking about the boy. He'd been quite nice without his friend and before Remus had opened his stupid mouth and mentioned his family.

Remus decided that if he wasn't going to sleep, he might as well make a start on his school books. He pulled a random book down from his new selection, flipped the book open at its first page and began to read.

By the time he'd finished '_A history of magic_' by Bathilda Bagshot Remus' eyes were drooping so he set it aside and closed his eyes. His last thought before falling asleep was of the shaggy haired boy who didn't like him.

Remus had spent the morning of September 1stwatching his parents panic, watching them drive and panic, watching the run through King's Cross panicking and finally watched them kiss him onto the train an hour early… still panicking.

Remus was sitting in the smallest compartment in the train, tucked away near the driver. His trunk was above him on a little shelf and he was talking through the open window with his Mother and Father.

"Now you will write to us won't you?" His mother was saying frantically. "We want to know how you're doing. And don't forget to check in with the headmaster." She looked around and leaned in, whispering. "The full moon is only a week away sweetie. I've sent the… things, to Professor Dumbledore so everything should be fine."

"If you need to come home at any time, just say." His father said, wringing his hands nervously. "We love you no matter what."

"Make plenty of friends." His mother was reaching a hand through the window with a chocolate frog box. "Eat this on the train, it'll make you feel better if you're nervous or worried."

"We don't care what house you're in." His father interjected. "Whatever's best for you." He looked like he was about to cry.

"Mum, Dad, I'll be fine." Remus said quietly. His parents looked a little taken aback, it was the first thing their son had said for a few days. Remus was not a big talker but usually he'd say something during a meal or when listening to the wizard wireless.

"Well ok then." Remus' mother said, choking up a little. "We have to go now. I have to be in the office in half an hour and your father has a meeting. We love you so much."

"Yes, don't forget that while you're away." Lyall was actually crying now. Salty tears left shining lines down his face that looked like pale, white scar tissue. "We'll see you at Christmas."

With a kiss on the cheek and a wave, his parents were gone. The steam coming from the top of the train stopped Remus watching them all the way to the platform gate. They vanished in a swirl of mist and Remus was alone. He thought he caught a flash of shaggy black hair and a scowl from the fog a little way from his window. Remus quickly pulled back and shuddered.

He tucked himself up in the corner next to the window and tried to read. But for the first time in a long time, he couldn't concentrate on a book. So instead he pulled out his wand, pointed it at the chocolate frog box and said "W_ingardium Leviosa_". He waved his wand in a swish and flick motion and the little box began to hover slightly above the seat. He grinned before quickly erasing the expression.

He was about to try another spell - he had a toothpick he thought he could turn into a needle - when the door to his compartment slid open and a head with long red hair and green eyes appeared.

"Do you mind if we sit in here?" Asked the girl. "There are empty compartments but there's only two of us so…?" She let her question trail off and Remus nodded jerkily and turned away.

"Thanks." She said with a big smile. "Sev!" She shouted down the carriage, "We're in here! I'm Lily by the way." She said turning back to Remus.

"Remus." Was all he said in reply. A boy with shoulder-length greasy hair followed Lily into the compartment and sat down.

"This is Severus." Lily said, indicating the boy. "Sev this is Remus."

"Good morning." Severus said quietly, not looking at Remus.

"Mmh." Remus said, terrified, wanting to bolt out of the door to a dark corner by himself.

"Sev, I can do it." Lily was hoisting her bag onto the overhead shelf and Severus was trying, and failing, to make her let him do it.

Lily sat down and turned to Remus. "So did you know about Hogwarts before your letter?" She asked "I'm a muggleborn but Sev here told me all about it."

"Yes." Remus said, "I'm a half-blood." He was feeling uncomfortable with the conversation but he reasoned that he'd have to get used to talking at some point if he was going to make any friends.

"So is Severus." Lily ignored her friend's scowl. "Have you read the set books yet?"

"Yes." Remus said, glad the topic was books, it would be easier to talk about books than heritage. "I've read them a few times."

"Really? Well it looks like I need to catch up." Lily said smiling.

The rest of the journey was spent mostly in silence as all three of them read, looked out the window and thought about what was awaiting them. They talked occasionally and though Remus never said more than a few words at a time and very rarely volunteered anything, he was having a good time. By the end of the trip he was sure that he had two friends at least.

His chocolate frog was left unopened in his bag.

Remus was sitting in slight shock next to Lily at the Gryffindor table. The hat had been thinking about Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff as well, though he wasn't ambitious enough for Slytherin. In the end he'd been surprised to be deemed brave enough for the lions.

Remus was scared of a lot of things. He was scared of crowds, loud noises, snakes, the full moon and the boy sitting two seats away from him on the other side of Lily. When he'd been walking over to the Gryffindor table, he hadn't the shaggy haired boy until he'd already sat next to Lily.

As he watched a girl, Mary, and a boy, Peter, had come to sit at the Gryffindor table. Then the shaggy haired boy's friend, James, was called up to the sorting hat. He sat on the chair, smirking and stood up almost straight away as the hat shouted "_Gryffindor!"_

Remus nearly groaned as he swaggered towards him. He walked past Remus and pushed his way in between Lily and the shaggy haired boy, almost knocking Lily off her seat.

"Watch it!" She hissed at him.

"Whoa! Sorry, Lily wasn't it?" The boy said with a charming smile.

"Evans to you." She spat, turning away. She caught Remus' gaze and rolled her eyes. "Prick." She mouthed.

Remus swallowed a small chuckle. The boy with glasses looked hurt, but was quickly laughing as his friend distracted him by doing an impression of McGonagall.

Remus moved slowly throughout dinner. He felt like he was immersed in transparent treacle. Everything was still clear, too bright and sharp, but everyone around him moved sluggishly. He was tired. He was overwhelmed. He just wanted to get out of this hall which was too full of talking teenagers.

"Mr Lupin?" Said a voice from behind him. Lupin turned around to see Professor Dumbledore standing behind him with a kind smile as he peered over his half-moon spectacles.

"Yes?" Remus said. "Professor." He added on quickly.

"If you'd like to follow me to my office. I believe we have things to discuss." Dumbledore said, gesturing to the door.

Remus got out of his seat, a sense of relief at being able to leave the hall washing over him. He followed the headmaster out of the hall and up to his office. All the way Dumbledore didn't say a word, just hummed contentedly to himself.

They reached a large statue that must have been the entrance to his office. Dumbledore said "Pear drop." Which seemed to be a password as the statue leapt aside and the made their way up a spiral staircase.

"Now." Said Dumbledore, seating himself behind his desk and tenting his fingers. "I have had a letter from your parents regarding your situation."

"Yes." Remus said. "They said they'd sent you the… necessary things." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I have sent them back." Said Dumbledore, his expression darkening. "No student of mine will be chained and caged. Not for any reason in the world."

"But-" Remus had begun to panic. He needed those chains. That silver was the only thing keeping him from hurting others every single full moon.

"They are not needed." The headmaster interrupted calmly. "I have made arrangements for you to be situated in an abandoned house with only one way in and out. The doors, walls and windows will be reinforced and the entrance in is too small for even a werewolf puppy."

Remus felt a bit dubious. The werewolf was incredibly strong against even the firmest barriers. Dumbledore obviously saw Remus' worry and said I will cast the spells myself."

This reassured Remus, who had heard of the great Albus Dumbledore, most powerful wizard of the age.

"I must also tell one other person." The headmaster continued. "Madame Pomphrey, our nurse and healer, will have to patch you up after each transformation. She is vastly skilled and will be able to get you to your classes the next day."

Remus was shocked. After transforming he always felt beyond drained, he felt so bone weary that he was almost comatose for two days.

"You will see." Dumbledore said "Don't take my word for it. Now if you don't have any questions?" Remus shook his head. "Good, then off you trot to bed, he Gryffindor Dormitories are just around the corner behind the portrait of the Fat Lady and the password is _Catullus Domum_. Good night."

Remus thanked the headmaster and made his way out of his office.

Remus had almost reached the portrait of the fat lady, he could see her snoring gently in her frame down the corridor. Then a shadowy figure stepped out from behind a statue and grabbed him roughly by the front of his robes and pushed him, hard, against a wall.

"I bet you think you're so much better than me. I saw that fucking show at the platform well guess what? My family is richer than yours, it is older than yours and it is purer than-" The voice broke off in a gasp. "I didn't- I don't care about… I…. Just be careful."

The person leaned in until his face was inches from Remus' and fell into torch light. It was the boy from Diagon alley. "I could snap you like a twig." The boy growled. Remus winced at how wrong this boy was, if Remus let it, the wolf could tear this small year to shreds. "Scared are you? Good." The boy had mistaken Remus' reaction for fear.

Remus was released and fell to the floor as the boy stalked away, in the opposite direction to the common room. Remus wiped wet tears from his face that he hadn't shed. 

* * *

Sirius: God that Remus is a prat insulting me like that.  
Remus: *sighs* Just wait.  
ToffeePrince: See, Remus has been reading ahead Sirius, why can't you?  
Sirius: Read? _Pfft! _I don't have time. Too busy being cool.  
Remus: Riiiiiight...  
ToffeePrince: So anyway, I hope you liked it and will drop me a review. *grins* TTFN and all.  
Sirius: Who are you talking to?  
ToffeePrince: None of your business. Go to sleep!  
Sirius: *grumblegrumble*  
Remus: *whispers* he'scutewhenhedoesthat...  
Sirius: What did you say?  
ToffeePrince: Hahahaha nothing now shush. *waves* bye. The next xhapter will be up as soon as I've done it.


	3. Chapter 2: Crime and angry chairs

Hey guys, back with another instalment of SH so first off THANK YOU FOR THE LOVELY FEEDBACK AND FOLLOWS AND STUFF! Sorry it took me longer than expected and I don't like this chapter personally, but I thought I'd get it posted and out the way so I can start writing them getting to know each other (which is far nicer to write than an angsty Sirius who is more than a bit of a diva-dickhead... have a mentioned a language warning? There'll be lnaguage, heads up). I'll try and update quicker next time.

Disclaimer: Day 35 of the visualization technique, still not JK Rowling. *sigh* You know what that means. Not mine, no profit etc etc.

On with the show. 

* * *

Sirius huffed as he flopped into a chair in the Gryffindor common room. He felt ignored after having been blanked by that Lupin when he glared at him in the hall as he made his way to the library.

James didn't look up from the essay he was frantically trying to finish for the next morning. Sirius sighed again theatrically and peered at James through his shaggy fringe.

"What?" Asked James distractedly, still paying attention to the parchment and scrabbling quill.

"We haven't pranked anyone in aaaaages!" Whined Sirius. "I'm dying of boredom." He pouted. The first week had not been fun for Sirius, he'd got nothing but cold glares from his cousins in Slytherin and a Howler from his mother.

He shuddered as he remembered the words being screeched, luckily from under his pillow rather than in the great hall.

"_Foul consorter with Mudbloods and blood traitors!  
You are not fit to be called my son.  
You are not my son.  
I have only one son now."_

Sirius had tried to forget the letter and how much it hurt him, but he couldn't quite erase it from his mind. What was worse, the homework they'd been set meant that he and James had only had time for one prank, which had been a pretty pathetic one anyway.

All it involved was getting the greasy Slytherin boy's bag to spilt open. But he'd been sitting down at the time so he'd just calmly repaired it before putting the _not broken _contents back in.

"Can't we get that stuck up know it all Lupin in our dorm?" Sirius begged, "He's been looking down at me since before we even got here."

"Do what you like." Said James, not really listening. "Whatever, as long as we don't get expelled."

Sirius decided to ignore James ignoring him and took this as a signal to go ahead and begin planning. He rubbed his hands together gleefully. This was certainly going to distract him from family disputes, and show that Loony Lupin who was boss.

The first week had not been fun for Remus. He'd spent almost every moment deflecting glares from Sirius Black. He was afraid that soon he would try and get at him some other way, though it hadn't happened yet.

It was also the night of the full moon and Remus felt like he was on a knife edge of tension, ready to snap at any moment. He'd asked Dumbledore if he could sit out of his last two classes that day since he'd been close to snarling at a teacher who'd tried to correct his wandwork.

Remus was alone in the library, immersed in a book called "_Banishing Bothersome pests: A guide to ridding place of minor apparitions and demons by Hexima Hold_" which was interesting enough, if basic.

Someone tapped on his shoulder, making him jump, he looked up, tensed for an attack, and saw Lily smiling at him.

"You don't mind if I study with you do you? Sev's already gone to his dorm but I haven't quite finished the charms homework yet." She looked at Remus expectantly, who shook he his head and gestured to the seat next to him, taking a deep, calming breath.

"You don't speak a lot do you?" Lily asked as she sat down. "Sorry, that was rude. Just ignore it." She looked chagrined as she opened her charms book to a page with a half-finished essay poking out the top.

"No." Said Remus, who felt like he had more to say to Lily than he ever had to his parents. "I just never had many friends at home." He continued reading.

Lily sat in shock for about thirty seconds. That was like an outburst from Remus, the boy who never said anything. She shook herself, beamed and threw her arms around Remus.

"I'm glad we're friends." She said to him, pulling away as she noticed how stiff the skinny boy had become at the physical contact. "Sorry, I'll just get on with the charms homework."

Remus nodded and felt angry at himself for being so touchy. He jerkily shoved a lock of hair away from his eyes and looked at the time on his watch as his hand came back down to rest on the table.

It was only an hour till moonrise.

Remus stood up abruptly and said "Have to go. Sorry." To Lily before practically sprinting towards the whomping willow, which had been shown to him by the school nurse on his second night at Hogwarts.

He came to the small house at the end of the tunnel with ten minutes to spare. He took off his clothes and folded them up in a neat pile in the corner of one of the rooms, hoping the wolf would leave them alone so he would have something to wear in the morning.

Remus sat, curled up, alone in the gathering dark, shivering and terrified of what was about to happen to him. He started crying as tremors started to wrack his body. He could feel muscles beginning to heat up, ready to melt and shift into new positions.

Remus could still remember the first time this had happened to him. He had been so confused and terrified as his sobbing parents locked him into a silver cage and charmed the basement shut behind them as they left. He'd screamed for them and yelled until he felt the change beginning.

Remus tried to blank out the memories of his first transformation. He looked out of a small crack in the wall just in time to see a silver orb rise above the mountains.

His pupils dilated until they filled almost his entire eye. Every bone in his 11 year old body snapped and then shifted under his thickening skin, reforming as they moved into strange positions.

His jaw was the worst, his facial bones splintered and blood seeped down his throat and the wolf liked the taste of the human blood, slavering for more, even as the boy retched. Then his face shifted violently, elongating and fusing back together as his teeth fell to the floor, pushed aside by sharper fangs that tore through blackening gums.

Remus let out a blood-curdling scream that turned into a howl as his skin didn't grown fast enough and white bone tore through already healing tears in skin that was becoming covered in silver fur that echoed the colour of the rising moon.

Where two minutes ago there had been a shivering boy there hunched a silver wolf, panting and sweating.

It raised its head slowly, looking around this new room with wary, toxic-yellow eyes. Its hackles raised and it let out a small growl.

It sniffed and searched frantically for an exit from the walls that held it, driven mad by the lingering scent of human,

_Kill, kill, feed, blood, warm, trapped, fight, fight, FIGHT!_

The wolf began to tear at the walls, scrabbling and doing more damage to itself as it bounced off enchanted barriers. It became confused and began biting itself, and scratching wherever it could reach.

The beast let out a long, pained howl that reverberated off the mountains for miles around and high in a tower, grey eyes snapped open as Sirius Black thought he heard something, before mumbling to himself and slipping back into pleasant dreams.

Sirius had spent a busy few days concocting his plan to show mummy's-boy-Lupin who was boss. He'd had a moment's hesitation when the boy had stumbled to first lesson a few days ago looking ill and worn out, but then it occurred to him that he was probably putting it on for attention and pity like he was used to at home. This made Sirius even angrier and so now he sat in front of a piece of parchment, smiling at the layout for his prank.

Sirius waited until Monday to carry out the plan, forgetting in his excitement, to tell James what he was going to do.

He woke up early and got ready so that he was already dressed and leaving when Lupin woke up and began to get ready. Sirius couldn't resist throwing the git a smug grin before he left. Today was going to be excellent.

Remus was nervous and tired as he walked down to breakfast, that look from Black had promised irritation and pain in Remus' future. Why did this boy hate him so much? What could Remus do to make Black leave him alone?

He sighed as he entered the great hall, which was already packed with chattering student happily munching on breakfast. He wished Sirius could have just waited until he wasn't still exhausted and in pain from the full moon.

He was just approaching an empty seat at the Gryffindor table, looking forward to as much bacon as he could physically consume, when he felt his clothes doing something odd, he looked around and caught Black's eye, smug grin still on.

Remus looked down in horror as his school robes morphed into a short, frilly dress which matching jewellery and shoes. Very soon he was clad in nothing but a very revealing maid's outfit, right in the middle of breakfast. But that wasn't the worst of it.

The jewellery was silver.

As the great hall erupted in laughter around him, Remus turned and tried not to run out of the hall as the bracelets and necklace burned into his flesh. He was humiliated, in tremendous amounts of pain and getting weaker by the second.

As soon as he was out of sight of anyone, with the shocked expressions on the teacher's faces still seared onto his retinas, Remus ran.

He flew along corridors and upstairs, using the speed of the wolf to get him to the common room as quickly as possible. He rushed into his room, tore off the bracelets and necklace, which took a little melted skin with them, and slumped to the ground, gasping and fighting down the beast inside him that wanted to run back and _kill, kill all of them_!

He struggled as screamed and finally locked the snarling monster in a small space in his mind that he never went to. Never except at the full moon, and today.

_You nearly let it out._ Remus thought savagely, _You are so disgustingly weak that you let the wolf come to the surface because of a stupid prank, because you were tired._He sneered at himself_._

Remus thought about what might have happened if the wolf _had_taken over in the great hall. What with the full moon being so recent, it was a real possibility.

He shuddered and stumbled to the bathroom where he retched into the toilet bowl. He vowed, again, that he would never let the wolf take control while he was still in human form and could force it back.

It was only then that Remus remembered his burns, he looked at his wrists and neck and swiftly looked away again. The open, bleeding sores there were not pretty to look at. He dragged himself up, schooled his expression and walked calmly to his trunk.

He rummaged through until he found his burn potion. He usually had to apply it after full moons when he'd been bound in the white hot metal, but now he the shack, he had plenty to spare.

Remus applied the stinging, green cream to his wounds, watching as they went from angry, red holes to small puckered scars that would fade in a few months.

Still poised over the toilet, Remus felt a very human rage build inside him. How _dare_ Sirius do this to him? How _dare_he think it was his right to turn Remus' only robes into a dress and _silver jewellery?_

Remus decided that while he would never unleash the darker half of himself on Sirius Black, he would definitely get revenge on him in his own way. But Remus would be clever about it, he wouldn't get caught and his revenge wouldn't be forgotten very quickly.

Remus cast a quick _finite_on his transfigured robes and watched in relief as they resumed their previous form. He put them back on, tugging at his sleeves and collar to hide the scars left by the bands of silver, and headed off to transfiguration.

Sirius was in sitting next to a disapproving James in McGonagall's class feeling very pleased with himself. Sure he'd lost thirty points for Gryffindor and earned a month of detentions clearing the bird dropping from the owlery without magic, but it had been so very worth it to see the slight shock and horror on Lupin's face, in fact the first expression other than neutral he'd ever seen on his face.

Sirius frowned for just a moment, remembering that most of Lupin's scared expression had been directed at the bangles he'd added as a finishing touch. Sirius had thought that dress itself was far more embarrassing but apparently Lupin had a phobia of charm bracelets.

James wasn't speaking to Sirius. He'd given him a lecture on their way to class about how humiliating pranks should only be used on Slytherins and only in groups. Singling out anyone, particularly a Gryffindor, was just unfair with something as public as that.

Sirius had rolled his eyes and claimed that James was just jealous he hadn't been included in such a spectacular prank. James had looked disapproving, like he was doing now, and not said a word to Sirius since.

Sirius looked up ten minutes into the lesson as the door opened. Lupin walked in without a word and sat down at the back. A few sniggers rippled across the class but everyone looked guilty as McGonagall swept the room with her steely gaze. She walked to have a quiet word with Lupin, who just nodded, shook his head and then said a few quiet words. McGonagall straightened up and directed Lupin to the page the rest of the class were reading before heading back to her desk.

Sirius noted that Remus had his shirt buttoned all the way up, and his sleeves almost completely covering his hands. Had he kept the jewellery? Had it not turned back with his robes? Sirius decided he would find out and so kept glancing at Lupin throughout the lesson.

About five minutes from the end of the lesson Sirius glanced back in time to see Lupin shifting his collar uncomfortably. Sirius caught a glimpse of a white raised line across his throat, exactly where the necklace had been.

Sirius froze, mouth slightly open. Had they _scarred_Lupin? Had he done the spell wrong? Or did the necklace just cover a previous scar that Sirius hadn't noticed? No, he would have seen in in the dorm.

Lupin saw Sirius looking and caught his eye, for the briefest second Sirius was fixed with a menacing, animalistic glare that chilled him to the core. Then Lupin shut his eyes and was unreadable again, continuing with his reading.

Sirius looked back to his own book, unable to read. The look in the smaller boy's eyes had hit some base fear of the predator within Sirius. It was a look that meant you were already dead, your body just hadn't realised it yet. Sirius shuddered as his unease covered the guilt of possibly injuring Lupin.

He would have to be a lot more careful in the future.

"Mr Lupin, are you ok? Do you know that it was Mr Black that pulled that infantile prank this morning?" McGonagall asked, a slight look of concern on her face.

Remus nodded to both questions, though it wasn't entirely true in answer to the first question. He'd been embarrassed yet again when his classmates had laughed as he walked in.

"Do you know why he singled you out? Have you fought?" McGonagall seemed to want to understand, though she obviously already knew that Black had done it and had probably given him detention. Remus shook his head.

"Are you sure? If there are any issues, you know you can talk to me? Or Professor Dumbledore?" Remus felt a warm glow towards his head of house. She was genuinely concerned about how he was, not just the broken rules involved.

"I'm sure Professor, but thank you." He said softly. He would not burden her with the petty squabbles of schoolboys, nor would he talk to her openly about the difficulties with being a lycanthrope.

"Very well Mr Lupin, we are reading chapter three today. You homework will be to write an essay ethics concerned with transfiguration of a living creature. We want to make sure you have a strong moral compass before we let you loose on animals with a wand." She walked back to her desk and began marking papers.

Remus began reading and tried to ignore the pain of his newly healed scars rubbing against his shirt. He made it through most of the lesson before the irritation forced him to pull at his collar for some small relief.

Of course it would be at that exact moment that Sirius Black decided to turn and look at him. The sight of the boy who had branded him with silver caused a momentary surge of rage from both him and the wolf. Remus closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm.

He opened his eyes and avoided Sirius' gaze, sincerely hoping that he hadn't noticed the scar on his neck. He smiled to himself as he thought of the revenge that he had planned. Sirius would regret the day he decided to humiliate Remus Lupin.

He made sure none of this showed on his face, one of the most important things was to not get found out.

But still, it would be nice to get some credit.

Remus spent a lot of time in library, he was known for it. On days when he didn't go to the library and went straight to the common room he got shocked looks from the boys in his year and a friendly "No books today, Lupin?" from Frank Longbottom, at whom Remus would gently shake his head before folding himself up in an armchair with his spell practice homework.

Today was one of the days where Remus could be found at the back of the library, among stacks of books and sheets of parchment scattered everywhere. He was planning his revenge on Black, and had finished all of his assignments early so he would have time to research the charms he would need.

He'd decided what he was going to do, and had ended up with a two-fold plan involving some quite complicated fourth year charms and spells, which was why he was waiting for someone.

"Remus?" Lily poked her head around the nearest bookshelf, grinned, and made her way towards him, followed by Severus. "This is very secretive, what did you want?" She plopped herself down next to Remus and scanned the books next to him.

"Revenge." He stated simply, pushing his plan towards her.

"I could kill Black for that stupid stunt." Lily muttered, "But is sinking to his level really the right thing to do?" She looked a little concerned.

"I would hardly call this sinking to Black's level." Severus said, who had looked over the plan and the magic involved. "This seems far more complex and well thought out than that juvenile plea for attention." Severus was eyeing Remus with a look of admiration.

"I can see that." Lily said, biting her lip to keep from smiling, "and it does sound brilliant. Oh fine then! I assume you'd like some help?" Remus nodded. "Well we'd better get started then." Now Lily had made the decision to break the rules, she seemed to have put all of her misgivings aside.

Over the next week, Lily, Severus and Remus practiced the relevant spells and planned out the timing of it all until they hoped the whole operation would run like clockwork. It wasn't until two weeks had passed that they were completely ready.

It was the evening before the Remus' Revenge was due and he was sitting on his bed with curtains drawn, composing a letter to send to his parents.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

I'm greatly enjoying Hogwarts, the lessons are so interesting and you wouldn't believe the amount of books we have in library, I almost never stop reading.

I've made some friends called Lily and Severus and the people in my dorm usually just keep themselves to themselves. I'm not sure they like me but I don't mind since they are immature and delight in childish pranks.

I'm sorry I haven't written earlier, I was so busy and of course there was the full moon. It was fine.

One last thing, would I be able to stay over Christmas? There's lots of work I'll need to do and it might help me get to know the people staying behind a bit better. You should come and visit me for a bit, if Dumbledore says yes.

I have to go now, my dorm mates have arrived and I think they'll want the light off.

Missing you,  
Lots of love,

Remus.

Remus felt a twinge of guilt and sadness as he read the very short letter back. He hadn't written in months and now all he was sending was a tiny scrap of parchment covered with lies.

Remus would have loved to go home and see his parents; this was by far the longest he'd been away from them in his life.

The reason Remus didn't want to go home was the silver cage. There would be a full moon over Christmas, on the longest night. This meant that if Remus went home, he'd be exposed to silver for longer than ever before, longer than might ever happen again, and he wasn't sure if he would live through it.

He put his letter in an envelope, sealed it with a charm and put it in his pocket so he could post it the next day.

The next day. Remus felt momentary panic as he remembered his other plans. The revenge would be implemented tomorrow, but would come into effect until the day after. Lily and Severus said they'd spend the day with him, a Sunday, helping him prepare.

He'd decided to take his revenge on a Monday just as Black had, so that he'd have the previous day to prepare but Black would have lessons so couldn't escape to his room. Hopefully he'd have a full day of humiliation before he found out how to lift the charms.

Remus sighed in anticipation and went to sleep with a small frown creasing his forehead.

It was Monday and everything was set up. Remus was eating his breakfast, with a book in front of him as usual, when Black and his friends entered the hall.

They were sniggering to each other and looking covertly over at the Slytherin table. Remus looked back at his book before they turned around. He kept his face impassive and continued to eat.

Suddenly there was a jerk as the bench on his side of the table jerked backwards causing people up and down the table to cry out and spill pumpkin juice, tea and copious amounts of porridge everywhere.

Everyone's gazes looked up the table to see what had caused it and saw Sirius Black flat out on the floor, having failed to sit down to breakfast.

He got up, brushed himself off and attempted to sit down again amidst titters throughout the hall. The bench jerked back again but this time he was ready and leapt back to meet the bench, which actually bent outwards, causing him to fall hard on the floor. Then the bench resumed its original shape, smacking Black in the head, pitching him forward into a pile off scrambled eggs that had been spilled by someone.

Laughter rippled out across the hall as Black got up, flushing furiously, and ate standing up as people moved the bench back nearer the table.

Remus went back to his breakfast, careful to appear as if he were paying no more attention to the scene as everyone ate, though he could have sworn that out of the corner of his eye he saw one of the bench legs kick Black in the shin.

Sirius was furious. He was stalking to his first lesson after having been thoroughly embarrassed in front of the entire school. He supposed that the same would happen at lunch and so had stacked toast in his bag so he could avoid it.

As he marched into his charms classroom he saw Lupin sitting there already. He scowled. It would be just like Lupin to quietly try and make his life hell, as if he hadn't done that already. But he had no proof so he left it and went to his usual seat.

He took his bag off, placed his wand on the desk and fell heavily into his chair that wasn't there.

He felt pain lance through his buttocks from the impact points of the cold stone floor and leapt up angrily, grabbing his wand and sending a burning hex at the chair, which neatly sidestepped.

Professor Flitwick was calling for Sirius to stop by this point as a desk was in flames, but Sirius ignored him and aimed a cutting hex at the legs of the chair, which dodged and the hex flew into Remus' bag.

Remus, made eye contact with Sirius then, and without breaking the stare, muttered under his breath, pointing his wand at his bag, which knitted itself back together.

Sirius was about to aim at the chair again when he felt the wand being plucked from his grasp and whipped around to see Flitwick aiming water at the flaming desk with both his and Sirius' wands.

"Mr Black, if you would go and stand at the back of the class please. Twenty points from Gryffindor for use of hexes in class. Now let's see what we can do." Flitwick tried to remove the charms placed on the chair for ten minutes before giving up and putting Sirius on the floor with a shortened desk.

He told them to take notes from the book for the rest of the lesson whilst he studied the chair for the spells placed on it.

Sirius huffed and reached for his parchment and quills. He opened his book to the right page and was about to start noting down the proper way to hold your wand for intricate charms work when words began appearing on his parchment. His eyes widened.

_Mr Moony would like to comment that any chair sensible to avoid the Blackest of arses should be given an award for services to the school._

Sirius' blood boiled as the words then erased themselves. Someone was mocking him, pranking him and making fun of his name. But it wasn't over, the parchment continued.

_Miss Tiger agrees wholeheartedly with Mr Moony but suggests that he too kind, the chair deserves and order of Merlin first class._

Then.

_Mr Prince thinks that nothing less the a position of Minister would suitably reward the chair and kindly asks that Black refrains attempting to sit down somewhere public since accidental death from laughter is something Mr Prince would recommend avoiding._

Sirius snarled and tore up his now blank parchment. The whole class turned to look at him, probably thinking he'd gone mad.

"Mr Black, if you find this task unpleasant we can always discuss it after classes?" Flitwick said.

"Sorry professor." He muttered, shooting a glare at Lupin. He _had _to be behind it. He had to be sending those messages to Sirius. Then he had an idea.

Sirius pulled out his wand, checking to see whether Flitwick was looking or not. Then he muttered "_Vestiga magicus_" whilst pointing his wand at his parchment and watched the small line, visible to him, that would lead from the enchantment to the source of the magic.

The line went straight out the window towards the grounds. Sirius grumbled with frustration. He obviously hadn't performed the charm correctly, he would check Remus' notebook after class.

Content with his plan, Sirius ignored the following notes, many of which wondered whether clothes might find Sirius' body objectionable soon. He always waited while the notes played out, waited for them to go and then continued writing.

By the end of the lesson he was sure he'd made enough detailed notes to appease Flitwick, who was checking that everyone had completed the assigned work. Just as Flitwick was nearing him, writing began to appear on his page again.

_Oh dear, Mr Moony commends Black for his efforts this lesson, but doesn't think it will quite be enough. Many apologies._

And with this, Sirius' notes proceeded to methodically vanish from the page, removing all the notes he's taken that day.

"Now, Mr Black, oh." Flitwick was staring disappointedly, looking at Sirius' empty parchment. "I'm afraid you'll be coming to my office after classes after all, to start the work you were obviously too busy to complete in this lesson. Class dismissed."

Flitwick walked back to the front of the class, leaving Sirius burning with rage.

He followed the crowd out of the classroom and bumped purposefully into Lupin, knocking his notebook from his hand. He bent down, picked it up and flicked it open triumphantly.

The notebook contained nothing but schoolwork.

"Thank you." Remus hissed acidly, snatching his book back and walking away to his next stood stock still for a moment. On the one hand, he still didn't know who his tormentor was, on the other, he'd provoked quite a large response from the reserved Lupin and hadn't had to do much at all.

He decided to file Remus' anger when it came to books away for later and continued to be furious and confused.

The rest of the day had been no better for Sirius, he had endured kickings from every bit of furniture in sight, had been mocked mercilessly by a bit of paper and had been unable to keep any schoolwork all day.

He now sat in Flitwick's office, being given a lecture about proper behaviour.

"You will be pleased to know however, that I have broken the enchantments." Flitwick said.

Sirius' head snapped up. "Really?" He asked excitedly, "Who was it?"

"I'm afraid I have no idea Mr Black." Flitwick said. "They routed the spells through an outside source somewhere in the grounds-" Well that explained why his tracking charm hadn't worked. "- and they also seem to have enchanted both you, and every bit of furniture in the castle. It took me a while to find all of the charms, because they all did very similar things. Quite ingenious, I'm almost tempted to find them and give them one hundred house points for creative thinking, then deduct them straight back for using magic on a fellow student." He looked dreamily into the distance at the thought of layering charms.

"Er... professor?" Sirius said, wondering if he was free to go.

Flitwick seem to understand and waved his hand towards the door.

Sirius left gratefully, determined to find whoever it was and... what? Beat them into a pulp or invite them into the marauders? He had to admit to being impressed by the prank, if only it had been applied on a Slytherin.

He still wanted to believe it was Lupin. He'd been writing whenever messages had been sent, and he was good enough at charms to accomplish the task.

Sirius was confused now. This was the sort of prank he would have pulled and it might have been Lupin that actually did it. This caused him to reassess the pathetic bookworm and he didn't know what he thought anymore.

Sirius groaned and shoved the issue from his mind. He would think about Lupin another time. Any other time in fact.

For now, he just wanted to sleep. 

* * *

TP: Oh dear Rowling praise merlin that's over! Well this was how I imagined Remus learning how to start charming the map and stuff and hide what he was writing from other people.  
Sirius: What an arse! Making me fall over like that!  
Remus:...  
TP:...  
Sirius: What?  
Remus: You deserved it.  
TP: You did. But no fighting. You remember your lines?  
Sirius: *sigh* If you review I'll take my shirt off...  
Remus: And I'll just ogle it.  
TP: Wait... that wasn't your-  
Remus: Moving on.


	4. Chapter 3: Those meddling professors

Hey there! So sorry this took a while, it turned out I needed to put time into school and a couple other projects I have going on. But here it is, the next chapter with the promise of more to come. Thank you so much for the reviews and follows! I hope you enjoy this.

Warning: has scenes that some people may find upsetting. Gore basically.

Disclaimer: Not making a profit. Not mine. Look to JK for that.

* * *

Sirius spent the next month waiting for Lupin to slip up. He _had _to let his guard down at least once. He continued to prank Lupin and continued to get pranked from a theoretically unknown source. So he watched and waited but that damn boy was impervious to Sirius' best glares and was meticulous in covering his tracks.

There were some days when Sirius was convinced it wasn't Lupin. On these days he sat in detention for making anything Lupin ate taste like sour milk and felt a little guilty. He'd then grouch back to James, fling himself on his bed and look over at Lupin, who would be there, reading calmly. He would be ignored by James for about half an hour before he forgave Sirius and they usually went to the kitchens to stuff themselves with treacle tart.

The prank would come a few days later. It would be precise, well carried out and the culprit was never discovered. The last time this had happened, Sirius had spent the day with a fixation on Professor McGonagall which had resulted in him proposing to her several times.

And every single prank was layered so it took at least a day to break. The McGonagall Incident, for example, had been a combination of a localised glamour charm and a mild fascination potion which had been slipped into his pumpkin juice.

The teachers were simultaneously impressed with the quality of the pranks and irritated at their number and frequency. Sirius suspected that they also suspected Lupin, but since he never left any evidence they couldn't punish him.

Sirius was now sitting in defence against the dark arts and he was doodling a new prank-plan on his parchment, it was his turn to respond to the McGonagall Incident. He'd just about decided to have Remus' forehead project his thoughts so that anyone could see them. Not his real thoughts of course, there was no way Sirius would be able to pull off magic that complicated and dangerous. But still, it would embarrass Remus, particularly if he couldn't see what was happening.

Sirius grinned at Lupin's back a few spaces in front of him. He was about to throw something at his head when the lesson came to an end.

"Mr Lupin, Mr Black you will be staying behind please." Professor Pennywhistle called over the rush of students leaving for lunch.

Sirius was baffled. He hadn't even done anything. Not yet anyway. Could Professor Pennywhistle read minds?

"Now boys." She said in a high, scratchy voice. "It has come to the attention of the faculty that you two ah…. Don't get on." Sirius and Remus just stared at her.

"Well," she continued "you may be aware that in Potions, Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts you are about to begin long term projects." Sirius almost exchanged a confused and exasperated glance with a James who wasn't there.

"Well to promote friendship and reduce the levels of disruption you, Mr Black, and an… unknown source have been causing, you will exclusively work together on these projects." Pennywhistle announced, bouncing on the balls of her feet looking as if she had just offered them two hundred house points each.

"Could you repeat that please?" Sirius said faintly. "Professor." He added.

"You and Mr Lupin will be spending the next two terms, until Easter, working together in and out of lessons." The excitable Professor said. "And we'll be checking on your progress regularly. You may go." She stated, twitching over to her desk, scraping a giggle across her larynges to herself.

Sirius left the classroom in a befuddled haze. The colours everywhere seemed to be muted by a slight white fog. He thought he was going to pass out and remembered that James, once again, wasn't there so couldn't catch him. There was no one to watch him anyway so he shook his head to clear it and huffed after Lupin.

"Listen here." He said, stepping in front of Lupin and getting up close to the smaller boy. "I might be forced to work with you, but they can't force me to be friends with you and nothing could make me like you. Got it?" He snarled and was about to turn away when Lupin actually spoke.

"Don't flatter yourself Black." He said in a voice slightly tinged with derision. "The day I care whether you like me or not is the day I will have gone clinically insane." He slowly turned and began to walk towards the great hall.

"Not far off, are you, Loony-Loopy-Lupin?" Sirius snapped at the boy's back.

Lupin didn't say anything, he just straightened his back and kept walking. But just before he turned the corner a small flash of light whipped out and wrapped around Sirius' legs. The leg-locker curse.

Sirius swore as he hopped to lunch. He didn't know the counter-curse. Those damn teachers would live to regret the day they'd inflicted this on him.

-ooOoo-

Remus didn't go into the great hall for lunch. He went straight to his dorm and sat on his bed. He'd lost control.

Not only had he gone off on a rant at Black, but he'd cursed him where there could be no doubt who had done it. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_He raged at himself.

Remus sighed. He just got so provoked by the idiot! And now he'd have to survive just over half a year working with him.

Remus groaned and breathed heavily for a few seconds before correcting his features and assuming a neutral expression again.

He could survive. More than that, he would survive better than Black. He's refuse to participate in any pranking for the duration of the projects. That would infuriate Black far more than any retaliation could.

Remus almost smiled as he thought about it. This might actually be fun. He got his books ready for his next lesson in a lighter mood than when he'd arrived in the common room.

-ooOoo-

Remus had decided that he'd been stupid to think this would be any kind of fun. He and Black had been told to decide on the topic for their transfiguration. Black wanted to do a project on transfiguration of precious metals whereas Remus wanted to work on human transfiguration.

"Why?" Black wailed as McGonagall told him that Remus' idea had a broader range of options to explore. It was also apparently more appropriate for first years as transformation of gold and silver got very complicated very quickly when it strayed into alchemy.

"Why don't you compromise, if your decision is sensible, you can decide for potions Mr Black?" McGonagall, who looked like she was not looking forward to dealing with the two of them for the foreseeable future, suggested.

Remus nearly as the shaggy haired boy turned a grin on him "Of course, good idea Professor." He said, practically bristling with mischief and, likely evil, plans.

"You'll have to clear it with Professor Slughorn first, of course." Professor McGonagall said, deflating Sirius.

Remus though that that would be it for transfiguration, they'd get on with it and all would be solved. But the bickering didn't stop there. Remus wanted to use the Animagus transformation as the basis for the project. Black wanted to do Lycanthropy.

There were a variety of reasons Remus didn't want to study Lycanthropy. Firstly, he already knew more about it than any textbook could offer. Secondly, the more Black knew about it, the more likely it would be he would figure out Remus' secret which would be disastrous.

Finally, thinking about Lycanthropy made him feel sick as he had to suppress The Wolf, as it crept closer to the surface of his thoughts.

McGonagall had to intervene, again. She told them they could do both, each researching the topic then writing a comparison together. It made sense Remus supposed. Both were human transformation into animals but under wildly different circumstances.

He sighed, resigning himself to discussing his hidden condition with Black once they'd both acquired enough information. They didn't need much for a first year project. Remus considered, briefly, lending one of his books on werewolves to Sirius but decided it would lead to too many questions.

This was going to be difficult.

-ooOoo-

It was November and Sirius and Lupin were in the Library researching the theory behind how times of day and year affected the qualities of potions ingredients.

"Lupin! I've told you, it's not in here!" They'd been looking for the instructions for the Polyjuice Potion for days. They knew that it had several ingredients that needed to be collected at specific times, but it appeared that the potion wasn't anywhere but the restricted section.

"We should ask Professor Slughorn." Lupin stated calmly.

"Bugger that! If I don't get it within the next two minutes I'll die of boredom! I'm going to the restricted section." Sirius said with a dramatic sigh and a glare.

"No." Lupin said. He was looking Sirius directly in the eye. "You'll get us in trouble."

"Better distract Pince so I don't get caught then." He said, marching towards the blocked off section.

Lupin sighed and Sirius felt a rustle around his feet and a wet sensation on his head. He whirled around to confront the boy for whatever curse he'd just used.

Lupin was just sitting there, one eyebrow raised. Sirius looked down at himself and… didn't. He had blended in with his surroundings.

"Disillusionment and silencing charms." Lupin turned back to his reading.

Sirius stood still for a moment, too shocked to think clearly. Lupin had just effectively made sure that Sirius' rule breaking would succeed. It wasn't something he'd ever thought about, he just sneaked around and hoped for the best.

Sirius made his way into the restricted section and easily found the book he was looking for "Moste Potente Potions". His family had a copy and he could have written home for it but that would have required acknowledging his Mother's presence which wasn't something he enjoyed doing often.

He brought it back to Lupin and tapped him on the shoulder. Lupin didn't jump as Sirius had hoped. He merely stiffened, slid away from the touch and drew his wand to lift the charms, staying absorbed in his beloved books. Sirius rolled his eyes.

-ooOoo-

"I hope you don't expect me to work on any of these over the holidays!" Sirius exclaimed, horrified as Remus held out a schedule of where they should be up to with the projects.

It was the day before the Christmas holidays were due to start and Lupin was looking ill, again, but determined as he shoved homework in Sirius' face.

"We need to keep up to date." Remus said. He didn't lower the sheets of parchment or move away.

"We're already ahead of everyone else!" Sirius groaned. Honestly, Lupin was such a workaholic.

"Do you want them to overtake over the holidays? Do you want Potter to win?" Lupin asked, eyeing Sirius in what was, quite frankly, a dastardly and unfair way.

"Fine! You're right. I'll do it ok?" Despite his surprising prowess with executing rule breaking, Lupin was such a bookworm! And he always thought he was right.

Black never bothered to put even the slightest effort in unless Remus forced him. Remus was holding a schedule _he_had put together for the ungrateful boy!

"Are you going home for the holidays?" Remus asked before he could stop his mouth. Why did he always run away with his words around Black? It was frustrating and this question was one that, Remus suspected, was a very bad idea to ask.

He was right. Sirius glowered at him and snatched the parchment from him. "Why? Going to gloat when I say no? Well I'm not ok? I'd rather be here by myself than with my…" He trailed off, grinding his teeth. "I suppose you'll be going home to Mummy?" He sneered.

"No." Remus said quietly. And left it at that. He'd already spoken too much for a week and really didn't want to go into reasons.

"Oh great!" Sirius raged. "Two weeks with your magnificent company! Fucking brilliant."

Remus ignored him and walked away. He was becoming irritated with the petty boy and was _this_close to tearing his throat out. It was approaching the full moon. The full moon that would fall on the longest night of the year.

Remus shivered and felt queasy at the thought. He had books that described what could happen on such nights. The combination of strong magic at the solstice and the sheer length of time spent under the night of the full moon meant that the transformation was intensified.

Apparently, on that night the human still would not have control, but would remember every single moment of the night. Remus was going to live through the self-mutilation that The Wolf took part in as it was driven insane by closed boundaries.  
It was a very strong possibility that Remus would be severely injured and might not even survive. Not only that, but Madame Pomphrey would be away so she'd told him to ask Dumbledore to take care of him. He hadn't asked and wouldn't ask.

Dumbledore had already done far too much for Remus by letting him come to the school, he wasn't going to intrude on his holidays by making him get up at dawn to look after a bleeding boy who was too weak to walk the short-ish distance to the hospital wing in the castle. He knew the potions he needed to take and where they were.

He'd make it work.

-ooOoo-

Remus was stumbling through the halls of Hogwarts in the freezing cold. He wasn't wearing much. The Wolf had torn his clothes almost completely to shreds.

Luckily the moon had set before the sun rose so there were no students or Professors up.

Remus was trailing blood and tears behind him as he shivered his way along the halls which seemed infinitely longer than they usually were.

It had been awful. Remus had experienced the most painful and lucid transformation of his life. The Wolf had been so much stronger than usual, throwing itself against the walls and enchantments holding it in. Bones had splintered, flesh had torn and shredded. Remus had been screaming and sobbing in the back of his own mind, watching as if from a distance.

He could still feel every moment of it. Every excruciating moment under the cruel eye of the full moon. When the moon had set, he'd passed out from the pain of turning back into a boy. He'd been moving for two hours now and was only two floors away from his destination.

He didn't know what to do about the blood that was spread in a grisly line all the way back to the whomping willow. He'd have to go back and clear it up after he'd taken enough potions to kill a dragon!

The trouble was, his vision was blurring. He was covered in seeping lacerations and hadn't slept all night. The blackness was closing in around his eyes. He stumbled and thought he heard a voice shout something as if through water.

He dragged his gaze up and could see the outline of someone running towards him. Was it Dumbledore? Too short.

_You're going to be found out._Remus thought. _All because you couldn't keep walking for another five minutes. Pathetic._Remus keeled forward, unable to keep his feet under him any longer. The person cried out again. Remus blacked out.

-ooOoo-

Sirius had woken up early. It was still dark, but Rem… Lupin! Hadn't been in his bed. He'd decided to go to the hospital wing to find out what was wrong with the boy or whether he was, as Sirius expected, being an attention seeker.

He'd changed his mind half way there and had let his grumbling stomach decide to take him to the kitchens.

He'd been skipping down a corridor, light at the thought of early morning cake and hot chocolate, when he'd seen a stumbling figure in front of him, making its way in the direction of the hospital wing.

It was Remus.

Sirius cried out and ran towards him, all hatred forgotten as he how bad his state was.

Remus had looked up, eyes unfocused and streaming tears. He'd looked scared, disgusted and then passed out as Sirius had reached him. Sirius caught him and wondered what in Merlin's name had happened to Remus.

He was only wearing what looked like part of his shirt tied in a makeshift loincloth to preserve what modesty he could. His pallid skin was criss-crossed with huge claw marks that were still bleeding.

Every other inch of skin was sporting a bruise and Sirius noticed that one of Remus' arms was bent at a funny angle.

Sirius was too horrified to say anything. What had done something like this to Remus? Is this what happened every month? Did Remus leave for a night a month to get beaten half to death?

Sirius had no answers. He just lifted Remus in his arms and rushed towards the hospital wing.

He didn't notice a person standing in a side hallway, wand at the ready, twinkling blue eyes observing the scene from behind half-moon spectacles.

-ooOoo-

Remus was asleep. Sirius had stayed beside him all morning. The witch who's been in Madame Pomphrey's office had not asked any questions until she'd seen to Remus. Then she'd interrogated him and he'd had nothing he could tell her.

He'd left briefly to clear all the blood up. He couldn't leave it for other students to find. The rumours would start and with Remus in the hospital wing… well it wasn't a hard connection to make.

All the way out to the whomping willow Sirius had wondered about what was happening. He'd looked up at the sky which still had stars spotted in it, but no moon.

What would injure Remus once a month? What would the Professors overlook, since they obviously knew of his absences?

It wasn't until Sirius had thought back to all the other times that Remus had been 'ill' that he remembered that he'd been consistently irritated that Remus had skived off picking potion's ingredients that could only be used if harvested on the full moon.

The full moon. Remus' unwillingness to study werewolves. The injuries he'd just had. _Oh Merlin!_ The jewellery in Sirius' first prank! It had been silver and Remus had had marks afterwards. Had Sirius inadvertently given Remus painful silver-burns?

It all fit and Sirius had felt sick to his stomach as he thought about the tiny details. Remus' reticence in making friends. Sirius had thought him stuck up and aloof. He felt so guilty.

This was why Sirius could still be found by Remus' bedside hours later. Watching the cream sheets lift up and down as the frail-looking boy- werewolf- breathed. What was Sirius going to do?

His first instinct was to tell someone, get him removed from Hogwarts! But that was his pureblood family speaking through him. He decided not to do anything about it. He would make friends with Remus. He wouldn't tell he knew, not yet. But Sirius was determined that this boy who he'd been so horrible to, would have friends who wouldn't abandon him if everyone found out.

Sirius knew something about being different and wouldn't inflict the pain of it on anyone. And so he waited for Remus to wake, watching and worrying all the while.

-ooOoo-

Remus forced his eyes open. They felt like they head lead weights dangling from each eyelash. What he saw when his vision cleared seemed to cut away the weights as his eyes flew open.

Sirius Black was sitting next to his bed, head resting on his bedside table and snoring gently. He looked vulnerable and sort of cute but Remus felt nothing but fear.

If Sirius knew he was here, could he have been the one to catch Remus that morning? If it had been that morning. Remus had no idea how much time had passed.

If Sirius had seen Remus, he might be able to piece together Remus' secret. Remus clenched his eyes tight shut; hoping that he was still asleep and Sirius Black hadn't really been watching him sleep.

"Oh you're awake. Just as well I called for a replacement nurse eh? Considering that _someone_didn't tell Dumbledore that they needed help. Remus I'm ashamed!" Madame Pomphrey's voice lashed like a whip across the hospital wing and crack along Remus who cringed.

"Sorry." He said quietly. Glancing at Sirius then back at the school nurse.

"Yes, it's a good job he was roaming the halls after hours as well. Carried you here and left only to clear up your blood young man." She turned eyes of iron on him and he flinched again. "You need to take better care of yourself Remus!" She sighed.

"Sorry." He repeated, feeling remorse well up inside him. "How long has he…" He looked at Sirius. "How long have I been asleep?" He asked instead.

"It's just before dinner, so if you wish to go, I'll permit it. So long as you're accompanied by Mr Black here. I suppose you'll have to wake him up." She walked towards her office "I have to send away for more blood replenishing potions."

"Couldn't you…?" Remus began, but she'd gone. He turned to Sirius, who'd starting shifting around a little, with a frown furrowing his brow.

Remus reached over and shook Sirius gently, using only his fingertips trying to avoid contact as much as possible.

Sirius' eyes popped open. He sat bolt upright and looked around, confused before he locked eyes with Remus and went stiff as a board.

"Awake. You are awake. Good." He said, distracted. "You er…. I brought you to here." He gestured to the hospital wing looking progressively more frantic.

"Do you know?" Remus asked. It wouldn't give anything away if he didn't since Sirius something was going on at least. He just might not know what. "Please tell the truth." He added.

"I of I don't know! What are you…? I mean…" Sirius trailed off, unable to look at Remus. "Yeah. I think so."

"What do you think?" Remus asked calmly, feeling panic rise up like a flood inside him.

"I… I think." Sirius ran his hands through his hair and let out a long breath. "I think you're a werewolf." He finished bluntly.

Remus was cold. He hadn't even made it to the second term. He was going to be thrown out and put down by the ministry. He drew in a jagged breath laced with fear and he felt sharp pricks at the corners of his eyes.

_Do not cry._He thought savagely. _He can kill you but he can't win._

"I… I won't tell anyone." Sirius said, nervously. "I mean, I don't care. I think it's quite cool actually."

"Shut up." Remus snapped. "You don't know anything about it. It isn't cool."

"It's just your… furry little problem! It doesn't make you any less of an insufferable bookworm." Amazingly, Sirius was smiling. Teasing Remus about the fact that he turned into a ravenous beast every month.

"Wh… Don't you hate me?" Remus whispered. He didn't want to believe that anyone wouldn't care about what he was. It was too much to expect. He'd been allowed to come to school, among other kids. This… he didn't deserve anything this good.

"Of course I don't." Sirius said. "You can't help it right? So why would I hate you for something you can't help? Actually." Sirius looked guilty. "I want to say sorry for being such a dick to you. That silver jewellery… I had no idea I'm so sorry." He looked concerned, as if Remus would be angry at him!

Remus let out a laugh that was half sob. Suddenly he couldn't hold the tears back. Remus hated crying but he couldn't stop and it felt _good_to let out years of feeling.

Sirius looked alarmed and just sat there uncomfortably. He reached out and patted Remus twice on the shoulder.

Remus laughed again at how much like a teenage boy Sirius was acting. Totally awkward and not at all like he was sitting next to a bawling monster.

"We should go to dinner." Remus said, drying his eyes. "Do you have clothes?"

Sirius held up a pile of robes for Remus. Remus was relived he'd bought a spare set of robes before this full moon. He'd had a feeling he'd need them, despite their cost.

"Shall we… go then?" Sirius asked awkwardly.

"Yes." Remus said from behind the screen where he was getting changed. He noticed that his cuts from last night were still red raw and the scars would last for a long time. Possibly forever. He looked up into a small mirror and noticed a small red line along one cheekbone. He sighed. That would get noticed.

"You're being talkative." Sirius said as they left the hospital wing.

"It's your fault." Remus said blandly. "You say such stupid things that I have to speak to correct them."

Sirius pushed him slightly, unfortunately on one of Remus' new cuts.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Sirius said. "I forgot."

"Crap memory." Remus said, with the tiniest smirk. "Thank you. You know for…"

"Yeah." Sirius said into the awkward silence. "You're welcome."

They walked in silence to dinner and began talking again when the food appeared. They were complaining about history of magic and when Sirius told Remus about the time James had been caught doodling Professor Binns gagged and had been forced to a detention with a gag on the whole time, Remus laughed. The few Gryffindors who had stayed for the holidays looked mildly surprised. They had never heard the quiet boy laugh and rarely speak. They shook their heads and muttered something about "… corrupting influence…"

Remus didn't care. It seemed when Black's mind wasn't bent on making his life hell, he was actually quite nice.

-ooOoo-

Sirius was lying on his bed trying to get to sleep. He was thinking about Remus.

Sirius had enjoyed talking to Remus. But he still felt guilty about being so dreadful to him so he made up his mind to sneak to Hogsmede the next day and get him a Christmas present.

The trouble was, Sirius didn't really know what to get him. Chocolate? Everyone liked chocolate.

Satisfied with his decision, Sirius drifted off into nightmares of boys lying, near death, on the floor, covered in blood and cuts.

Not so far away another boy had nightmares of howling and shifting bones all being scrutinised by a large silver orb hanging, menacingly, in the night sky.

* * *

TP: So there it is. The next chapter.  
S: So Dumbledore just stood there and watched Remus bleed? What a DICK!  
TP: He was watching to make sure Remus got there safely but didn't want him becoming dependant on teachers. What he needed was friends so he guided you to the scene and helped him along. I don't like Dumbledore's brutal use of people but it is what it is.  
S: AND REMUS THOUGHT I WAS A CUTE SLEEPER!  
R: Lies. You can't prove a thing.  
TP: Hush up the both of you. So reviews would be nice. Especially ones that tell me what to improve, those are my favourite ones!  
S: Who is he always talking to?  
R: Don't ask or get too close. You might catch it.  
TP: HAHA SO WITTY REMUS WHY DON'T YOU SHUT UP? Anyway I'll be back next time with another chapter about my favourite pups. For a few blissful chapters we shall kiss goodbye to most of the angst! Horrah! Toodles.


End file.
